Toys

OK. I must admit that I like a lot of the new Christmas toys. The games are always a hit with me but the kids aren't always too interested. The two I would endorse the most are Zingo - which Allison can do well even though it says ages 4-8 and Cariboo is a great game to actually interest boys in letters, numbers, etc. while going on a hunt for balls that then will open a treasure chest.

The Furreal Macaw which I mentioned in a previous post is growing on me. It's the kind of pet I like- no shedding, still survives when ignored and no mess. It is very funny to be downstairs and here it say "what ya doin'?" Keeps catching me by surprise.

BUT, the real winner this Christmas is the Webkinz that Kyle got from his cousins for Christmas. Our (oops, Kyle's!) Tiger is named Wags and is very fun to play. I have been up late 3 nights playing games, answering questions and trying to win webkin dollars so we can furnish Wags' room. He now has an outdoor area, bathroom and several toys. GREAT idea from it's creator. Kyle is enjoying it too (maybe not as much as I am though!)

Kyle opening Wags the Tiger

Santa pulls through with Allison's baby doll:
The whole holiday was so fun. It was great to see the kids expressions on Christmas morning (well, Dec 24th at our house) and just great to see family.

Gift exchange between siblings

Today Damon took Kyle and I took Allison to look for a present for their sibling. Allison very quickly picked a Power ranger on a motorcycle thing that was at her eye level and then proceeded to look at baby dolls. Kyle wanted to get her a Power ranger, Transformer, Movie (all much more to his liking) but with some assistance landed on a Dora Bedtime story book. Kyle's was gift wrapped and Allison had helped wrap his and put it under the tree. When Kyle came in he held up the wrapped present and said "I got you a Dora book. What did you get me?" and by this time he's under the tree with a hole poked in the wrapping paper. So, we decided they might as well get their little gift exchange over and so they both unwrapped them. It was pretty cute and they were excited.

Tonight they each got an early present from Papa and Gma E. Kyle got his Furreal Macaw and Allison got a Dora purse with lots of goodies in it. The best was a phone that was programmed with Papa saying "Allison, this is Papa John. I love you" She thought that was great and played it all the way home and would just laugh. She also liked her lipstick (chapstick) and necklaces/rings in the purse.

Tomorrow the rest of the E's Christmas will occur. Hope they sleep late but not much chance since Kyle's Macaw is standing watch over him on the head of his bookcase headboard!

Santa Claus

I grew up believing in Santa and so did Damon. Our realist personalities, however, really aren't into this whole thing. Damon says he's never told Kyle there is one and I guess I haven't directly either but by going along with what he thinks about him I feel like we've told him there is one. Anyway, I'd decided the main reason I wanted to play along with the gig was that I didn't want the responsibility for my kid to blow the thing for others in the class. Well, at the party on Thurs, Santa's name was mentioned and Mayah pipes up "he's not real" I don't think many of the kids heard and another mom told her we weren't to say that to the others or something like that. So, it just cracked me up. I was kind of hoping Mayah would just blow it for Kyle but he was at the other table.

Damon and I will end up blowing it in some way, I'm sure. However, I think there is a part of kids that want to believe no matter what they think or are told. I have tried to explain the reason we give gifts to one another and to talk a lot about Jesus' birthday. I am thankful for our church and Kyle's school who have done a great job of helping reinforce this thought. Santa or no Santa, I think that the kids get the reason we are celebrating Christmas.

Date Night with new Babysitter

Damon and I had a long overdue date night tonight. Seems whenever we go out it's some agenda or with others so it was so nice to get out for dinner alone at Bonefish Grill (one of our favorites!) It had been so long that we didn't know what to do when dinner was done. We weren't really needing food or drink from Starbucks, didn't want to shop on Dec 21, and didn't want to be out much longer due to Allison's first babysitter to attempt bedtime. So, we ended up checking out DSW, cruising the aisles of Lifeway Bookstore and then to TJMaxx/HomeGoods for a little bit. I then thought we'd better get home.

Good thing we did. Kyle had done fine and was zonked out but Allison was giving Abby a hard time. She said as soon as it was time for bed Allison was crying for Mommy. She told her parents that we came home at JUST the right time. I was glad we didn't put her through that too much longer. Poor Allison- such a Mama's girl at bedtime! She's gotten a LOT better and is fine with Damon and Grandma's but I guess a babysitter she'd met for the first time tonight was just asking too much for her. It will be interesting to hear Allison and Kyle's version of things in the morning. They were both VERY excited for her to come. We've been so spoiled with Grandparents to babysit that Kyle has only had 3 other babysitters and Allison one other and only for short times during our small group. I remember always being excited for babysitters and I think they were too. Just need to get Allison over the bedtime frenzy.

Preschool Christmas Program and Party

The Preschool Christmas program was supposed to be Sun and we were going to miss it due to a family celebration. Kyle was a little disappointed but rolled with it when he found out he'd be getting gifts at Grandma's. Then, with loads of snow up north and ice and snow here, both the family party and the preschool program got cancelled. They made up the program this morning and it was a site to see. The crazy parents who videotaped the kids going into preschool were there

and a TON of kids. All of the kids except the 2 yr olds had one line which was kind of amazing and really hard to hear any of them. Even when they were loud enough I think the way they spoke into the mic was not right or something. Anyway, kudos to these amazing patient teachers for even attempting this event. It amazes me the energy and thought they put into their activities.


After the program, the party that was to occur today got started. Allison once again got to tag along as well as her little friend, Jenna (another little sis of Kyle's classmate, Libby) They are so cute to watch with all the big girls. Don't try to tell them they aren't big girls. During story time I thought Allison was going to end up on Avery's lap trying to get the front seat and she responded and participated more than Kyle, actually. Kyle is laid back and quiet at school. His teachers tell me that is a plus and as I listened to the girls say "I was here first, I had that first, whine, whine, whine" I was SO thankful but afraid that was probably in Allison's future.
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Kyle carried home many crafts they'd made this month, a gift for his family he'd made and a gift for himself from his teacher. I am so glad he enjoys school and it is fun to experience it with him.

Childproofing

Damon and I spent the evening trying to get the basement in a shape where I can actually trust the kids to be there for 15 minutes or so. It took 2 locks on the storage room doors, cleaning out the floor of our extra closet and putting toys on the bottom shelves so they don't scale them and pull them off the wall. It is crazy what they think of trying. Of course, the crayons/markers/easal are in the storage room to be brought out only with supervision. We'll see if we've made enough measures of safety. I'm sure there is something we haven't thought of.

Tonight they actually played together about 15 min without fighting or getting into too much trouble. The only trouble was getting out Damon's old violin which they know they aren't supposed to but it was very accessible (not anymore!) So, we'll see how this works out. It will also help when their friends come over and I don't have to worry as much about things.

Jolly Tradition

We hit the Children's museum this morning. There were a LOT of field trips there which isn't the best timing but the kids enjoyed the Cookie Cafe in Winter Wonderland- always the favorite Christmastime display and the big slide from level 2 to level 1. Allison was reluctant to ride down but didn't have a choice as I had to keep them together. It was a shame we had to get home for nap because the field trips were heading out about the same time we were. Kids are both still asleep and I even rested for almost an hour with Kyle on the couch. It is an adventure!

Pictures of them putting on the Nutcracker show and distributing train tickets- Polar Express, of course:

Favorite Book

Allison's favorite books to read right now are the ones where you find the hidden items. We have a Dora one that we read many times a day and last week I found a Princess one. Now, we read it several times a day and she even reads it herself. "Where's that one? There it is!" She is so proud each time she locates the item. When you read it with her, she often find the wrong one on purpose and then thinks she is being so funny! Our little comedian.

Future Photographers

The kids have been practicing their photography skills. I think they better keep practicing.

Play Date

The kids had 3 friends over to play on Monday. Kyle, Taylor, Luke and Allison had to all sit in the same chair. Allison kept hitting Luke and throwing things at him. I think it's her way of showing him she's excited to see him and that she really likes him but I think she better figure out some different strategies before she hits her 20's. Kyle and Luke played together well today. Always something about pirates and treasure. It is nice that the kids can play somewhat on their own now so I can actually have some adult conversation with Heather and Shannon.

Lunch is always crazy. We are at the point that we need a whole big pizza to feed the bunch. Baby Madison is so laid back and sweet. What a tolerant child to let the 4 crazy kids tickle and climb all over her. It was good to see she does have a limit though as she started squealing and was ready for it to stop too!!

Lipstick

On the way home from church last night, Allison wanted to hold my purse so I did a quick mental check and thought it would be safe. To my memory, the only things in it were my wallet and phone. What I DIDN'T know was that an old pencil stick was in there. She obviously found it-- doesn't it match her outfit so perfectly? :) She mentioned she had lipstick on but I thought she was referring to earlier in the day when I put some of my lip gloss on her. We didn't discover it until I opened the van door to get her out at home. We just cracked up!!

Holiday Festivities

Kyle had his first Preschool Lane breakfast at church this weekend. It was complete with the 3 Wise Men and Shepherds. I was working but it was reported by grandparents and Daddy that when the Shepherds would ask if Allison knew where the star was or the Wise men where baby Jesus was, she would very seriously nod yes. Kyle received a Bible from church which he was very excited about despite the fact that we already have it at home!

We also enjoyed the Purdue Music Organization's Christmas Show today. It is a great show and has a full cantata as the second Act.

Snow Angels

Kyle is very into the snow this year. He remembers the big amount of snow we had last year and couldn't wait to make a snow angel. We need to find a better pair of gloves but otherwise our snow gear is working great. I did learn that good gear is crucial. Allison won't leave her gear on and is done about 2 minutes after getting outside. Kyle and I went sliding down our small backyard hill which is perfect for him, shoveled the drive and made snow angels. I guess I shoveled the drive while he pelted me with snowballs. It wasn't very good packing snow and he was disappointed that we couldn't do a snowman. Maybe today. I haven't tested our latest snowfall. I LOVE the snow so have really enjoyed breathing that crispy cold air this week

Kids Connect

Allison had her debut on stage Wed am at our last morning Bible study. She did the motions and was really into her performance. Kyle did great also. They did a song called God Made Me which the kids sing their own version of and I can't get out of my head.

Disney

I have thought about blogging on our Disney vacation now for a couple of days. It was a great time and I had intended on blogging gradually when we were there. However, sleep was more of a priority at the time.

I will hit some highlights. You can check out more photos at our family website (as soon as I figure out how to do it in the new computer!!). Kyle was a fantastic flyer and Allison did great until the last hour when her fatigue and inability to fall asleep collided and the whole plane heard her cry "Mommy hold me" for about 20 minutes until she gave up the fight and slept. That was at 8 pm and she slept until about 7 am the next morning. Slept through getting off the plane, baggage, ride home including stop to drop off Gma and Gpa and changing into her jammies at home. She was TOAST!!

Our condo was huge and beautiful. It was a great place to stay and we were thankful for all the space, good beds, etc. It was about a 20 min drive to Disney which they somewhat mismarketed but it was all fine in the end. We'd stay there again.

Our weather was in the 80's nearly the whole trip with only a little drizzle on Friday which actually cut the humidity and felt pretty good. We did everything we set out to do. Allison rode her first roller coaster ride and Kyle got his haircut at the Disney barber complete with spiked red hair and a Mickey face in the back of his head. Allison got a pony with confetti Mickey's too so they were very excited about that on Day 1. You can still see the outline of Mickey in Kyle's head a week later!!




It is just a priceless moment watching the kids take in the opening of Magic Kingdom and experiencing so many magical things. I must be getting sappy in my old age because I actually got a bit choked up watching them see the train come in with the Disney characters to open the Magic Kingdom. Disney has me right where they want me, I'm sure!!